OpenSignal, which produces mobile signal coverage maps based on data submitted by users, analysed Sydney and Melbourne mobile broadband speeds. The results and analysis listed below are direct from them. The story that interprets the data can be found here. OpensSignal's crowd-sourced coverage maps can be viewed here.

Speed: Telstra come out the winners here, with higher download speeds than the competition. Upload speeds are similar though Vodafone have a slight edge and latencies show Vodafone and Telstra performing similarly with Optus lagging behind.

Telstra come out comfortably ahead in terms of 3G coverage, with Vodafone and Optus coming with almost identical coverage in second place.

4G

Speed: It is worth noting that Australia are exceptionally advanced for 4G, with their average speeds ranking among the best in the world. In Melbourne, Vodafone 4G is exceptionally fast for download, putting them comfortably in first place for the headline metric of download speed. Telstra also perform well (although slower latencies impact on user experience) and Optus offer a very all-round performance.

Coverage: Telstra mobile perform best for coverage, important as high speeds are only useful if users can actually access them! Optus are not far behind but there is a bit of a step down to Vodafone. So even though Vodafone have breathtaking download speeds, users of their network will have less opportunity to use them than Optus or Telstra.

Sydney

Cellular

Number of Speedtests: Telstra, 3550. Yes Optus, 3542. Vodafone, 3518.

3G

Speed: Telstra again come out the winners here, impressing for all three metrics with very fast download speeds being particularly impressive.

Coverage: 3G coverage in Sydney is relatively close between all three networks. Telstra are ahead of the other two, with Vodafone slightly edging ahead of Optus into second place. The gap between Telstra and Vodafone is bigger than the gap between Vodafone and Optus.

4G

Speed: Vodafone again demonstrate exceptionally fast LTE speeds, which combined with the fastest latency (although they fall behind slightly in upload speed) gives them the currently best performing LTE network in Sydney in terms of speed.